Winter late due to recent cyclone in Bay

Nearly half of the Poush, the first of the two winter months, is already over, but the weather in the capital is not turning wintry yet.

People are not wearing warm clothes. Even many are having their ceiling fans on at night.

“I don't feel cold at all. I need to turn on my ceiling fan while sleeping at night,” Reazul Ahmed from the city's Rayerbazar said yesterday.

Some city residents are commenting on social media about this unusual weather condition. 

However, parts of the country, especially the northern region, are colder than Dhaka.

Officials at the Met Office said a cyclone recently formed in the Bay of Bengal which later moved towards the Arabian Sea. The cyclone drove the Siberian wind, which causes winter in the region, to the higher surface in the atmosphere. The region includes Dhaka, New Delhi and Kashmir.

Yesterday, the minimum temperature in Dhaka was 18.5 degree Celsius. The country's lowest temperature was recorded in Tentulia at 11.5 degree Celsius.

According to the Met Office, this season's winter temperature is unusually high not only in Dhaka, but in the entire region. The temperature would fall gradually and the winter would set in soon. 

Dense fog in rivers has been disrupting ferry and cargo services across the country at night, but the temperature is still higher than usual.

This year, the country's average December temperature is around three degree Celsius higher than the previous years.

The average maximum temperature of this month is 21.45 degree Celsius against 18.25 in 2015, 18.25 in 2014 and 16.75 degree Celsius in 2012.

The average minimum temperature of this month is 15.02 degree Celsius against 10.02 in 2015 and 10.09 degree Celsius in 2014.